Snoopy returns to Schulz family in $175m Peanuts cartoons deal

Big character: the Snoopy float at the 2008 Macy's Thanksgiving day parade in New York. Photograph: Yana Paskova/Getty Images

Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts comic strip family are back under family control. The Schulz family and brand managers Iconix are to pay about $175m to its current owners, the US newspaper and TV group EW Scripps, for the licensing rights to the Peanuts characters, plus other cartoon characters such as Dilbert. The family will own 20% of the business which is expected to be worth $75m a year. Charles M Schulz, who created the strip, died in 2000. Iconix owns and licenses consumer brands including Joe Boxer underwear.Sources: Wall Street Journal/Washington Post